1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a standalone packaging manipulation apparatus that is disposed adjacent to a rotary container transportation apparatus having an arcuate transportation path and performs predetermined packaging manipulation operations on containers being transported along the arcuate transportation path.
2. Description of the Related Art
Packaging manipulation apparatuses that carry out predetermined packaging manipulation operations on containers that are being transported by a rotary container transportation apparatus along an arcuate transportation path in a horizontal plane while moving packaging manipulating members in synchronism with the containers have been used in packaging machines. The packaging manipulating members are moved (or advanced) in synchronism with the containers from its initial position on the arcuate transportation path within a predetermined range along the arcuate transportation path and, after stopping at the point of advance end, returned (or moved back) to the initial position. The predetermined packaging manipulation operations are carried out on the containers during the advance motion of the manipulating members (including at the stopped moment thereof).
Rotary container transportation apparatuses having arcuate transportation paths include a type that includes a circular transportation path (consisting of arcuate transportation paths only) and a type that includes a race track-shaped transportation paths (including arcuate transportation paths at both ends), and the manner of transport includes both continuous transportation and intermittent transportations.
In a bottling machine (which corresponds to the packaging machine in the description of the present invention) disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. S59-46874, a liquid-filling device (which corresponds to the packaging manipulation apparatus of the present invention) is provided above a table (which corresponds to the rotary container transportation apparatus in the description of the present invention) that intermittently transports bottles along a circular transportation path. This filling device includes a spindle that is positioned in the center of the table (and is thus in the center of the circular transportation path), a fan-shaped nozzle support member secured to the spindle, and a plurality of liquid-filling nozzles (which correspond to the packaging manipulating members of the present invention) disposed in an arcuate shape with a predetermined spacing therebetween along the perimeter of the nozzle support member. As the spindle rotates in a reciprocatory manner, the filling nozzles are intermittently moved (or advanced) along the circular (arcuate) bottle transportation path in synchronism with the transport of the bottles and then, after stopping at the point of advance end, moved back (or returned) to the initial position. The filling nozzles are lowered in the initial position and raised at the point of advance end. A mechanism that reciprocatingly rotates the spindle, that is, a mechanism that causes the filling nozzles to reciprocatingly revolve along the arcuate transportation path, is incorporated in the intermittent drive mechanism of the table.
In the packaging machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2009-1322, a mouth-holding device (that corresponds to the packaging manipulation apparatus of the present invention) is installed in the vicinity of a table (which corresponds to the rotary container transportation apparatus in the description of the present invention) that intermittently transports bags along a circular transportation path. The mouth-holding device includes a guide rail installed at the exterior of the circular transportation path, concentric therewith, a slider configured to reciprocate along the guide rail, a pair of mouth-opening claws (which correspond to the packaging manipulating members of the present invention) installed on the slider, and an opening and closing mechanism therefor. As the slider is moved in a reciprocating manner, the two mouth-opening claws are intermittently moved (advanced) along the circular (arcuate) bag transportation path in synchronism with the transport of the bags and, after stopping at the point of advance end (or the end of forward motion), returned (moved back) to the initial position. The mouth-opening claws etc. are lowered in the initial position, opened immediately after the start of the advance motion, raised at the point of advance end, and then closed immediately before arriving at the initial position. A mechanism that raises and lowers and reciprocates the slider, that is, a mechanism that raises and lowers the mouth-opening claws and reciprocates them along the arcuate transportation path, is incorporated in the intermittent drive mechanism of the table.
In any of the cases described above, the reciprocating path of the packaging manipulating members is structurally predefined. In other words, it is a reciprocating rotation about a spindle in the bottling machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. S59-46874, and it is a reciprocating motion along a guide rail in the packaging machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2009-1322. In addition, a drive mechanism that reciprocates the packaging manipulating members is incorporated in the drive mechanism of the rotary container transportation apparatus. For this reason, from the standpoint of the mechanism, it is relatively easy to have the packaging manipulating members advance in synchronism with the transport of the containers along the arcuate transportation path by the rotary container transportation apparatus and then bring them back to the initial position.
However, the apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. S59-46874 and 2009-1322 have such problems that:
(1) The packaging manipulation apparatus cannot be readily separated from the rotary container transportation apparatus even when separation becomes necessary. For this reason, in the apparatus of, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. S59-46874, it is necessary to stop the entire bottling machine in order to clean the filling nozzles when changing the filling liquid; which inevitably results in a loss of productivity.
(2) The packaging manipulating members are moved along the same path when advancing and returning. For this reason, in the apparatus of, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. S59-46874, when the filling nozzles are returned along the bottle transportation path, liquid dripping from the nozzles may potentially get on the bottles.
(3) The packaging manipulation apparatus is configured to be used with a specific rotary container transportation apparatus, and thus, the packaging manipulation apparatus lacks versatility. For example, the same packaging manipulation apparatus cannot be used with rotary container transportation apparatuses that have arcuate transportation paths of different radii.
(4) Likewise, the range of advance and return motion of the packaging manipulating members always remains constant and cannot be changed, which contributes to the lack of versatility. For this reason, in the apparatus of, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. S59-46874, a choice has to be made between reducing the speed of bottle transportation and increasing the idle time, when it is desired to lengthen the filling time depending on the properties or amount of the dispensed liquid.
In contrast to the above described apparatuses, there exist packaging manipulation apparatuses which are separate in terms of drive mechanisms from rotary container transportation apparatuses. However, the only available packaging manipulation apparatuses of this type is that which works when containers, transported by an intermittent transportation-type rotary container transportation apparatus, are stopped or that which works with containers transported along a rectilinear transportation path in a rotary container transportation apparatus (in which the packaging manipulating members are moved in synchronism with the transport of the containers along the rectilinear transportation path). In the former type of apparatus, the packaging manipulation apparatus operates only in the stop positions of the containers (e.g., the filling nozzles are raised and lowered at the container stop positions) and does not operate in synchronism with the transport of the containers. The latter type of apparatus is disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Patent No. 4,190,067. It should be noted that while the packaging manipulation apparatus of Japanese Patent No. 4,190,067 has a drive mechanism that is separated from a rotary container transportation apparatus, it is provided inside the container transportation path and is accordingly not structurally separated from the rotary container transportation apparatus.
When the drive mechanism of the packaging manipulation apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. S59-46874 and 2009-1322 is incorporated into the drive mechanism of a rotary container transportation apparatus, it is relatively easy, from the standpoint of the drive mechanism, to move the packaging manipulating members along the arcuate transportation path in synchronism with the transport of the containers. However, as previously noted, this type of packaging manipulation apparatus lacks versatility.
On the other hand, among the packaging manipulation apparatuses that are separate from rotary container transportation apparatuses (or standalone packaging manipulation apparatuses) in terms of their drive mechanisms and structure, there are no such apparatuses that are configured to move the packaging manipulating members along an arcuate container transportation path in synchronism with the transport of containers. In addition, the very idea of making standalone packaging manipulation apparatuses of this type more versatile has not arisen yet presently.